Want to know how to make someone close to you feel loved? All you have to do is know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it, and to do just the right thing. Sounds so simple, but not easy to do.
One of my favorite discoveries years ago is the book “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. Although this is written for couples, but you can apply it at work with your bosses, your employees, your peers, your customers, your friends, and your family, including with children. I have also used the book as a guide to help me motivate some of my design students that were under-performing to improve their grades and the quality of their work. I miss teaching and mentoring so much that I will be adding the design programs back into my business this year.
This book also helped me to have better relationships with my parents and family members,too! My mother’s main love language is words of affirmation and my father’s is acts of service. So you can imagine that my parents have had a lot of misunderstandings over the years because of they have different love languages. But I proudly say, that is over now; they are in a completely different stage, one full of honest communication, love, understanding, and patience.
Since Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day are around the corner, why not give a gift to yourself by learning your own love language? Then reach out to someone you care about and learn theirs. I know for sure you will take that relationship to a transformational level. I gave this book years ago as a Christmas gift to my family members that were in committed relationships. My sisters and their spouses did the assessment in the book and shared with me that it really helped them understand each other better and brought them even more closer to each other.
Love to hear what your love language is! Enjoy the short video of Gary Chapman explaining it below (ignore the production values of the video – just pay attention to his words) 🙂
